Beowulf: The story Vs. The movie
Beowulf the story and the movie are both very good and go into great detail whether visually or using wonderful imagery. They both have great things in common but their strengths are in the differences. There are three main differences for me that stood out. In the film Grendel hates noise, while in the text the writer portrays him as curious about why they're all so quiet. The second difference is that Grendel's mother was never killed in the film but in the text she was beheaded, the third difference is the location in which the dragons was killed.
The first difference I noticed is that Grendel hated loud noise. In the movie, while the queen is singing softly, far away in a cave, Grendel is screaming and tearing at his exposed eardrums. Grendel comes down and kills off most of Beowulf's men, until finally, Beowulf destroys him by using his weakness for loud sounds. Beowulf is able to quickly destroy Grendel and rip off his arm. Grendel starts shrinking back to human size and dies when he returns back to his cave. While in the story, Grendel only came to Herot to see what the men did while they were so quiet.
The second major difference for me was that Grendel's mother was never killed in the movie. Instead she seduced Beowulf and offered him promises of riches, fame, and to live forever in the hearts and minds of men. All he had to do was 1) bear her a child and 2) give her the golden drinking horn.When Beowulf returns back to the King Hrothgar he boast that he killed the wretched hag known as Grendel's mother. The King seemed to know that he was lying but didn't push it. He named Beowulf the heir of his kingdom and the keeper of all his gold and the future husband to his wife. The King then jumps out of a castle window. In contrast to the film, Beowulf kills Grendel's mother and returns home to Sweden.
The third and final difference was the location in which he fought the dragon. In the story, Beowulf returned home to Sweden and is crowned king. A dragon comes and attacks his town . Beowulf , the epic hero, gets badly hurt and is near death. Wiglaf comes and assist him in killing the dragon for with him. In the movie, Beowulf never leaves Denmark and is successful in killing the dragon. In the dragon is actually his son. Beowulf cuts the dragon in his vulnerable spot to save his wife and the other woman. He and his son end up dying on the beach, but not before he names Wiglaf the new king.
In conclusion, Grendel hates noises in the movie but in the book he is intrigued by the quietness, Grendel's mother doesn't die, and the dragon is fought and killed in two different places. I think that both the movie and book are well written and go into great depth, and even though they drift off into different directions, they ultimately teach the same valuable lesson of never let pride get the best of you.
